Two new councillors will take their seats following by-election victories in Newcastle.

Labour’s Andrew Fox-Hewitt won the Bradwell seat on Newcastle Borough Council, while Jill Waring took Newchapel for the Conservatives, following the elections on Thursday.

The by-elections were the first polls to be held in Newcastle since a damning report revealed around 1,500 people had been disenfranchised following a catalogue of errors ahead of the General Election in June.

Experienced staff were brought in from Stoke-on-Trent City Council to help run the by-elections, which both went according to plan, with no problems being reported

An observer from the Electoral Commission visited Newcastle to monitor how the elections went.

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Council leader Simon Tagg said: “I congratulate the two new councillors who local people have asked to represent them on our authority.

“This was a good test of the processes we have put in place to try and rebuild public confidence in the elections system in this borough. The Council has worked with the Local Government Association to bring in experienced and knowledgeable staff from Stoke-on-Trent City Council to bolster our existing election resources.

“And the early signs are that the things which have been put in place in a very short period of time have worked extremely well and everyone in the Bradwell and Newchapel wards who wanted to exercise their democratic right today and vote in these by-elections has been able to do so.

“We have had no reports of any issues or problems from the electorate and the whole process has gone according to the detailed plans which were put in place.

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“The challenge now is to build on this encouraging start and make sure we get it spot on in May 2018 when the borough has its first all-out council elections for all 44 seats in new ward boundaries.”

The Newchapel seat was vacated when Labour councillor Lionel Burch stood down following ‘unspecified allegations’ from his group.

Mrs Waring now joins her husband Paul – who is also a councillor for Newchapel – on the Conservative benches.

Mr Fox-Hewitt will follow in the footsteps of Labour stalwart and former borough mayor Trevor Hambleton, who died earlier his year.

Turnout in the by-elections was predictably low, given the poor weather, with just 16.6 per cent of electors in Bradwell and 18.35 per cent in Newchapel taking part.

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The results mean Labour remains the largest group with 25 councillors, while the Conservatives now have 23. The Borough Independents have five, the Lib Dems have three and the Kidsgrove Independents two, with Ukip and the Newcastle Independents on one each.

Following the publication of the report, the council’s minority Labour administration, led by Elizabeth Shenton, was ousted from power by the other groups, and Mr Tagg of the Conservatives was elected the new leader.

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Chief executive John Sellgren, who was the returning officer for the June elections, and monitoring officer Liz Dodd had previously been suspended by Mrs Shenton. They are subject to internal disciplinary proceedings.

The report threw doubt on the result of the election, which Labour’s Paul Farrelly won by just 30 votes, due to the number of people who were disenfranchised.